KNITMESH VANE MIST ELIMINATORS

Specifically designed to handle high volume gas flow and reduce fouling, KnitMesh vane mist eliminators are ideal for duties with heavy liquid loads or where the capacity of conventional mesh equipment is exceeded; and can be used at K-values up to 0.45m/s over a broad spectrum of applications.

The parallel, chevron construction relies on the principles of droplet inertia, centrifugal force, impingement and gravity. Liquid-laden gas within the vane bundle is forced to change direction several times - which imparts a centrifugal force onto the stream and throws heavier liquid droplets against the wetted walls of the vanes where they are incorporated into the sheet flow of the liquid and drained. Agitation and surface contact also cause coalescence of small droplets within the vanes. As with wire mesh mist eliminators, the KnitMesh vane mist eliminators can be installed either vertically or horizontally. Drainage of liquid from the vane pack to the bulk liquid phase in the vessel is achieved by means of ‘downcomer pipes’.

Vane mist eliminators fall into two categories. Firstly, simple vanes which separate liquid by impingement, coalescence and drainage on the vane surface with no disengagement of the liquid from the gas stream:

	Particularly suitable for situations with a significant risk of fouling due to solid particles or high viscosity liquids in the feed
	Usually relatively low gas handling capacity

More sophisticated designs provide special separation channels to allow disengagement and liquid drainage from the vane surface:

	High capacity designs reduce equipment size
	Excellent separation performance even at high gas velocities

KnitMesh vane mist eliminators are capable of high separation efficiency of droplets larger than 10 microns, and pressure drop is usually specified up to 5mbar.

Materials of construction include stainless steel (316L and 304L), Monel¹, Incoloy 825¹, Hastelloy¹ and titanium with other options being available upon request.

Plastic vanes are also available for highly corrosive environments or for simple fume scrubbing applications.

Figure 6. Typical separation efficiency curve for
Knitmesh high capacity vane mist eliminator

¹ Monel, Hastelloy, Incoloy and Inconel are registered trade marks of Special Metals Corporation, USA.

* Teflon is a registered trade mark of Dupont, USA.

¥ Hostaflon is a registered trade mark of Hoechst, Germany.